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DC Comics to unleash War of the Supermen in May

DC Comics continued its promised week of major news this morning by revealing the big Superman event for 2010: War of the Supermen, which launches in May with a Free Comic Book Day zero issue by James Robinson and Eddy Barrows.

The crossover, which builds on the “Brainiac” and “New Krypton” story arcs and the yearlong Superman: World of New Krypton miniseries, will center on rising tensions between Earth and New Krypton.

“The winds of war are stirring,” teases the DC Universe blog. But just how widespread will this war be?

“Right now, we’re taking the concentrated approach, limiting the war to the main miniseries and logical titles (i.e. Superman, Supergirl, etc.),” Editor Matt Idelson tells Techland, “but much like Blackest Night, it’s very possible the story will expand to touch upon other titles.

Although Blackest Night, which has been a bestseller for DC this year, initially seemed confined to the Green Lantern “universe” — the core miniseries, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps — it soon expanded to “touch upon” nine or so existing titles and spawned more than a dozen additional one-shots and miniseries.

DC used Free Comic Book Day 2009 to debut Blackest Night which, like War of the Supermen, built on storylines dating back more than a year.

So, will War of the Supermen be accessible to readers who aren’t steeped in recent Superman continuity?

“Absolutely,” Idelson says. “A big part of our jobs (editors and writers both) is to make sure we remember that any given issue of any book could be someone’s first. With a big, loud story like this, we have to be doubly diligent to make sure this thing is accessible, from the Free Comic Book Day zero issue right through to the finale.”